** GOES-16 data posted on this page are preliminary, non-operational data and are undergoing testing **

As Tropical Storm Bret was forming off the coast of South America, Potential Tropical Cyclone 3 (PTC3) was becoming more organized as it moved from the western Caribbean Sea across the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and into the Gulf of Mexico on 19 June 2017 (MIMIC TPW). On 20 June, one of the GOES-16 Mesoscale Sectors was positioned over PTC3 and provided 1-minute imagery — Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) showed deep convective bursts moving northward to reveal an exposed Low Level Circulation Center (LLCC).

Early in the day on 21 June, 1-minute GOES-16 Visible and Infrared Window images (above) showed multiple LLCC features associated with PTC3, with deep convection remaining well to the north/northwest. In addition, Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images (below) indicated that a large amount of dry air had wrapped into the southern and eastern portions of the storm circulation.

However, by mid-day a more consolidated central circulation had developed, as seen on Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images (below) — and PTC3 was upgraded to Tropical Storm Cindy.

Hourly images of the MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product covering the 19-24 June period (below) showed the northward transport of rich tropical moisture into the Gulf Coast states, which then moved northeastward toward the Northeast US bringing heavy rainfall and flooding to many locations (WPC storm summary).

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water [click to play animation]

Maps of daily rainfall during the 21-24 June period (along with 7-day rainfall totals, departure from normal and percent of normal) are shown below.

21-24 June daily precipitation, along with 7-day Precipitation Total, 7-day Departure from Normal and 7-day Percent of Normal [click to enlarge]